Description

This is the second edition of a book aimed at engineers, scientists and hobbyists who want to interface PCs with hardware projects using graphical user interfaces. Desktop and web based applications are covered.

The programming language used is Python 3 which is one of the most popular languages around: speed of programming being a key feature. The book has been revised and updated with emphasis on getting the user to produce practical designs with ease - a text editor is all that is required to produce Python programs.

Hardware interfacing is achieved using an Arduino Uno as a remote slave. A full description and source code of the communication interface is given in the book. The slave provides digital and analogue input and outputs. Multiple Unos can be included in one project with all control code written in Python and running on a PC.

One project involves a PIC microcontroller with code provided that can be loaded into the PIC using the Uno. The web applications and server are all implemented in Python allowing you to access your electronic hardware over the Internet. The Raspberry Pi computer can be used as your web server.

An introductory chapter is provided to get you started with using Linux. The book is written for use with Debian or variations including Mint or Ubuntu. All of the programs in the book are freely available, ready to use and experiment with by way of a download from Elektor.